A Houston man is accused of using social media to orchestrate a scheme resulting in the theft of more than $1 million in vehicles.
According to reports, Kenneth Dwayne Westbrook, 29, lured individuals through Instagram promising to pay them money to rent vehicles for him through Turo.
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Turo is a car-sharing marketplace where vehicle owners can list and rent their vehicles online.
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Westbrook is accused of picking up the vehicles, driving them to Mexico, and ignoring the renters’ calls to return the vehicles. According to court documents, Westbrook would promise to pay $2,500-$5,000 to renters who reserved vehicles he could use.
From Sept. 2022 to April 2024, authorities believe Westbrook took more than 25 vehicles valued at more than $1 million.
According to court documents, Westbrook posted on Instagram from his “bossmann_boosie” profile with public folders including one titled ‘Trips,money&hos.’ The court documents include screenshots of Westbrook’s Instagram including stories in Mexico.
According to the criminal complaint, when the Turo reservation was about to expire, some renters attempted to convince Westbrook to return the Turo vehicle. However, according to witness statements, Westbrook frequently stalled the return of Turo vehicles to renters and/or owners to buy time for him to cross the border. As a result, Westbrook sometimes provided renters with a fabricated story of how the vehicle had been stolen from their possession in order to convince Turo, the vehicle owner, and law enforcement that the vehicle had been stolen.
The GPS on several Turo vehicles tracked stolen Turo vehicles near, across, or at the Mexican border. Several Turo vehicles connected to Westbrook were reported stolen and later recovered in Mexico, according to Turo.
If convicted, Westbrook faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine for each count in the indictment.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler White and Michael Chu are prosecuting the case.